MOSCOW, November 30 (RAPSI) – The communications agency Roskomnadzor has blocked 59 websites which illegally published personal data of more than 100 million Russian nationals including addresses and telephone numbers in two years, the watchdog’s statement reads.

Law provisions on the court-ordered restriction of access to websites illegally processing personal data took effect on September 1, 2015. Since then, 437 Internet resources have been added to the registry of violators of the rights of data subjects pursuant to 229 court orders.

According to Roskomnadzor, this registry is an additional instrument of the Russian nationals’ rights protection. Citizens have a right to apply to the watchdog in cases of illegal processing of their personal data on the Internet. The communications agency is authorized to send a request for information removal to website owners and file a motion with court if illegal data processing continues. Moreover, Russian citizens may address the website owners or turn to court by themselves, the watchdog says.